1 This is what the LORD says: "See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai. [^1]2 I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster.3 Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy "her army.4 They will fall down slain in Babylon, "fatally wounded in her streets.5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land "is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.6 "Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORD's vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves.7 Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad.8 Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.9 "'We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.'10 "'The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.'11 "Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple.12 Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The LORD will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon.13 You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be destroyed.14 The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.15 "He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.16 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.17 "Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them.18 They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.19 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the people of his inheritance — the LORD Almighty is his name.20 "You are my war club, my weapon for battle — with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms,21 with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver,22 with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and young woman,23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials.24 "Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia "for all the wrong they have done in Zion," declares the LORD.25 "I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth," declares the LORD. "I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain.26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever," declares the LORD.27 "Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts.28 Prepare the nations for battle against her — the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule.29 The land trembles and writhes, for the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand — to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there.30 Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become weaklings. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken.31 One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured,32 the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified."33 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come."34 "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out.35 May the violence done to our flesh "be on Babylon," say the inhabitants of Zion. "May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia," says Jerusalem.36 Therefore this is what the LORD says: "See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives.38 Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs.39 But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter — then sleep forever and not awake," declares the LORD.40 "I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats.41 "How Sheshak "will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! How desolate Babylon will be among the nations!42 The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her.43 Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no one travels.44 I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall.45 "Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD.46 Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.47 For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her.48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her," declares the LORD.49 "Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.50 You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the LORD in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem."51 "We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD's house."52 "But days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan.53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her," declares the LORD.54 "The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. [^8]55 The LORD will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound.56 A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake," declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.58 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Babylon's thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations' labor is only fuel for the flames."59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign.60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon —all that had been recorded concerning Babylon.61 He said to Seraiah, "When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud.62 Then say, 'LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.'63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.64 Then say, 'So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.'" The words of Jeremiah end here.

1 [Hc dicit Dominus :Ecce ego suscitabo super Babylonem et super habitatores ejus,qui cor suum levaverunt contra me,quasi ventum pestilentem :2 et mittam in Babylonem ventilatores,et ventilabunt eam et demolientur terram ejus,quoniam venerunt super eam undique in die afflictionis ejus.3 Non tendat qui tendit arcum suum,et non ascendat loricatus :nolite parcere juvenibus ejus :interficite omnem militiam ejus.4 Et cadent interfecti in terra Chaldorum,et vulnerati in regionibus ejus.5 Quoniam non fuit viduatus Isral et Judaa Deo suo, Domino exercituum,terra autem eorum repleta est delictoa Sancto Isral.6 Fugite de medio Babylonis,et salvet unusquisque animam suam :nolite tacere super iniquitatem ejus,quoniam tempus ultionis est a Domino,vicissitudinem ipse retribuet ei.7 Calix aureus Babylon in manu Domini,inebrians omnem terram :de vino ejus biberunt gentes,et ideo commot sunt.8 Subito cecidit Babylon, et contrita est.Ululate super eam :tollite resinam ad dolorem ejus,si forte sanetur.9 Curavimus Babylonem, et non est sanata :derelinquamus eam, et eamus unusquisque in terram suam,quoniam pervenit usque ad clos judicium ejus,et elevatum est usque ad nubes.10 Protulit Dominus justitias nostras :venite, et narremus in Sion opus Domini Dei nostri.11 Acuite sagittas, implete pharetras :suscitavit Dominus spiritum regum Medorum :et contra Babylonem mens ejus est ut perdat eam,quoniam ultio Domini est,ultio templi sui.12 Super muros Babylonis levate signum,augete custodiam, levate custodes,prparate insidias,quia cogitavit Dominus,et fecit qucumque locutus est contra habitatores Babylonis.13 Qu habitas super aquas multas,locuples in thesauris,venit finis tuus, pedalis prcisionis tu.14 Juravit Dominus exercituum per animam suam :Quoniam replebo te hominibus quasi brucho,et super te celeuma cantabitur.15 Qui fecit terram in fortitudine sua,prparavit orbem in sapientia sua,et prudentia sua extendit clos.16 Dante eo vocem, multiplicantur aqu in clo :qui levat nubes ab extremo terr,fulgura in pluviam fecit,et produxit ventum de thesauris suis.17 Stultus factus est omnis homo a scientia ;confusus est omnis conflator in sculptili,quia mendax est conflatio eorum,nec est spiritus in eis.18 Vana sunt opera, et risu digna :in tempore visitationis su peribunt.19 Non sicut hc, pars Jacob,quia qui fecit omnia ipse est :et Isral sceptrum hreditatis ejus :Dominus exercituum nomen ejus.20 Collidis tu mihi vasa belli :et ego collidam in te gentes,et disperdam in te regna :21 et collidam in te equum et equitem ejus :et collidam in te currum et ascensorem ejus :22 et collidam in te virum et mulierem :et collidam in te senem et puerum :et collidam in te juvenem et virginem :23 et collidam in te pastorem et gregem ejus :et collidam in te agricolam et jugales ejus :et collidam in te duces et magistratus :24 et reddam Babyloni, et cunctis habitatoribus Chald,omne malum suum, quod fecerunt in Sion,in oculis vestris, ait Dominus.25 Ecce ego ad te, mons pestifer, ait Dominus,qui corrumpis universam terram :et extendam manum meam super te,et evolvam te de petris,et dabo te in montem combustionis :26 et non tollent de te lapidem in angulum,et lapidem in fundamenta :sed perditus in ternum eris, ait Dominus.27 Levate signum in terra,clangite buccina in gentibus,sanctificate super eam gentes,annuntiate contra illam regibus Ararat, Menni, et Ascenez :numerate contra eam Taphsar,adducite equum quasi bruchum aculeatum.28 Sanctificate contra eam gentes,reges Medi, duces ejus, et universos magistratus ejus,cunctamque terram potestatis ejus.29 Et commovebitur terra et conturbabitur,quia evigilabit contra Babylonem cogitatio Domini,ut ponat terram Babylonis desertam et inhabitabilem.30 Cessaverunt fortes Babylonis a prlio,habitaverunt in prsidiis :devoratum est robur eorum,et facti sunt quasi mulieres :incensa sunt tabernacula ejus,contriti sunt vectes ejus.31 Currens obviam currenti veniet,et nuntius obvius nuntianti,ut annuntiet regi Babylonisquia capta est civitas ejus a summo usque ad summum.32 Et vada proccupata sunt,et paludes incens sunt igni,et viri bellatores conturbati sunt.33 Quia hc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Isral :Filia Babylonis quasi area,tempus tritur ejus :adhuc modicum, et veniet tempus messionis ejus.34 Comedit me, devoravit me Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis :reddidit me quasi vas inane :absorbuit me quasi draco,replevit ventrem suum teneritudine mea, et ejecit me.35 Iniquitas adversum meet caro mea super Babylonem, dicit habitatio Sion :et sanguis meus super habitatores Chald, dicit Jerusalem.36 Propterea hc dicit Dominus :Ecce ego judicabo causam tuam,et ulciscar ultionem tuam :et desertum faciam mare ejus,et siccabo venam ejus.37 Et erit Babylon in tumulos,habitatio draconum, stupor et sibilus,eo quod non sit habitator.38 Simul ut leones rugient,excutient comas veluti catuli leonum.39 In calore eorum ponam potus eorum,et inebriabo eos, ut sopiantur,et dormiant somnum sempiternum,et non consurgant, dicit Dominus.40 Deducam eos quasi agnos ad victimam,et quasi arietes cum hdis.41 Quomodo capta est Sesach,et comprehensa est inclyta univers terr !quomodo facta est in stuporem Babylon inter gentes !42 Ascendit super Babylonem mare,multitudine fluctuum ejus operta est.43 Fact sunt civitates ejus in stuporem,terra inhabitabilis et deserta,terra in qua nullus habitet,nec transeat per eam filius hominis.44 Et visitabo super Bel in Babylone,et ejiciam quod absorbuerat de ore ejus :et non confluent ad eum ultra gentes,siquidem et murus Babylonis corruet.45 Egredimini de medio ejus, populus meus,ut salvet unusquisque animam suam ab ira furoris Domini,46 et ne forte mollescat cor vestrum,et timeatis auditum qui audietur in terra :et veniet in anno auditio,et post hunc annum auditio,et iniquitas in terra,et dominator super dominatorem.47 Propterea ecce dies veniunt,et visitabo super sculptilia Babylonis,et omnis terra ejus confundetur,et universi interfecti ejus cadent in medio ejus.48 Et laudabunt super Babylonem cli et terra,et omnia qu in eis sunt,quia ab aquilone venient ei prdones, ait Dominus.49 Et quomodo fecit Babylon,ut caderent occisi in Isral,sic de Babylonecadent occisi in universa terra.50 Qui fugistis gladium, venite,nolite stare :recordamini procul Domini,et Jerusalem ascendat super cor vestrum.51 Confusi sumus, quoniam audivimus opprobrium :operuit ignominia facies nostras,quia venerunt alieni super sanctificationem domus Domini.52 Propterea ecce dies veniunt, ait Dominus,et visitabo super sculptilia ejus,et in omni terra ejus mugiet vulneratus.53 Si ascenderit Babylon in clum,et firmaverit in excelso robur suum,a me venient vastatores ejus, ait Dominus.54 Vox clamoris de Babylone,et contritio magna de terra Chaldorum :55 quoniam vastavit Dominus Babylonem,et perdidit ex ea vocem magnam :et sonabunt fluctus eorum quasi aqu mult,dedit sonitum vox eorum,56 quia venit super eam, id est super Babylonem, prdo,et apprehensi sunt fortes ejus,et emarcuit arcus eorum,quia fortis ultor Dominus reddens retribuet.57 Et inebriabo principes ejus, et sapientes ejus,et duces ejus, et magistratus ejus, et fortes ejus :et dormient somnum sempiternum,et non expergiscentur, ait rex(Dominus exercituum nomen ejus).58 Hc dicit Dominus exercituum :Murus Babylonis ille latissimus suffossione suffodietur,et port ejus excels igni comburentur,et labores populorum ad nihilum,et gentium in ignem erunt, et disperibunt.]59 Verbum quod prcepit Jeremias propheta Sarai filio Neri filii Maasi, cum pergeret cum Sedecia rege in Babylonem, in anno quarto regni ejus : Saraias autem erat princeps propheti. 60 Et scripsit Jeremias omne malum, quod venturum erat super Babylonem, in libro uno, omnia verba hc qu scripta sunt contra Babylonem. 61 Et dixit Jeremias ad Saraiam : Cum veneris in Babylonem, et videris, et legeris omnia verba hc, 62 dices : Domine, tu locutus es contra locum istum, ut disperderes eum, ne sit qui in eo habitet, ab homine usque ad pecus, et ut sit perpetua solitudo. 63 Cumque compleveris legere librum istum, ligabis ad eum lapidem, et projicies illum in medium Euphraten, 64 et dices : Sic submergetur Babylon, et non consurget a facie afflictionis quam ego adduco super eam, et dissolvetur. Hucusque verba Jeremi.